The old Jets general manager has a chance to lend a helping hand to the new Knicks president.

The worlds of former Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum and Phil Jackson are about to collide in an odd twist to the Knicks coaching search.

Tannenbaum became an agent one year ago, joining Priority Sports and Entertainment. Tannenbaum represents Knicks head-coaching candidate Steve Kerr, now with TNT and the heavy favorite to be Jackson’s next head coach.

Tannenbaum, who was with the Jets for 15 years, the last seven as GM, now runs the New York branch of Mark Bartelstein’s Chicago-based agency.

Bartelstein, one of the NBA’s top agents, represented Kerr as a player when he won five titles, three with Jackson in Chicago. In the NBA, however, player agents can’t represent coaches and GMs.

Tannenbaum represents coaches, GMs and TV/radio talent. Kerr is currently working the playoffs for TNT as a longtime partner of Marv Albert.

Tannenbaum knew Bartelstein from NFL negotiations, though Bartelstein specializes in the NBA. Bartelstein reached out to Tannenbaum after he was fired by the Jets after the 2012 season to see if he wanted to change careers. Tannenbaum started with the Jets in 1997 as director of player contract negotiations and is considered a top-flight negotiator.

“It’s a really unique opportunity, and I’ll be working with good people,” Tannenbaum said last April. “I’m hoping to bring a different perspective to the job. Nobody knows better than me the ups and downs of running a team, and I think I’ll be able to share those experiences in my new role.”

Tannenbaum, who has a law degree from Tulane, had done some TV work with NFL Network before going to the other side.

“I went through three head-coaching searches,” Tannenbaum recently said, “so that gives me a unique perspective.”

Jason Kidd saluted Mike Woodson on Monday hours after he lost his job as Knicks head coach. Kidd finished out his playing career under Woodson last season.

“That’s part of the job, and it’s unfortunate,” the Nets rookie coach said as he prepared for Game 2 versus the Raptors. “He’s a great coach, and a great person, and I wish him the best of luck.”

Nets guard Joe Johnson, who played for Woodson in Atlanta, added Woodson thrives with isolation players such as himself.

“I’m sure he’ll get another job somewhere. I wish him the best,’’ Johnson said. “He was a great guy for me, who really brought out the best in me. I had some great years under Coach Woodson, and he was a guy who really put the ball in my hands and told me to make plays, so he means a lot to me.”

Steve Novak, who played for Woodson last season before being traded by the Knicks to Toronto, said Phil Jackson had to make a move to justify his existence.

“I don’t think they’d hire Phil and bring him in unless there were going to be major changes,’’ Novak said. “I think his salary indicates he’s going to be in charge of making things very different than they were.

“I don’t think anybody’s shocked but I think Coach Woodson did a good job there. We won 54 games last year and made it to the second round of the playoffs and then this year, had a down year but when you trade me away, what do you expect?’’

Novak said he “just joking.’’ But he added in a serious tone, “To be honest as a coach he was someone who was very in touch with the guys, knew what it took to motivate them. I feel he got the best out of a lot of people.’’

J.R. Smith told ESPN the firing was “sad’’ saying, “I think I got a fair shake for the first time in awhile under him. He treated me how he wanted to be treated. It sucks, but there’s nothing I can do about it.’’

TORONTO — Just about every aspect of Phil Jackson, basketball executive, is still a vast unknown. The Knicks are essentially paying him $60 million on spec, and on the reputation he earned as the most successful coach in NBA history, with the extra bonus that he spent his most productive years as a player at Madison Square Garden.

All of that is fabulous.

All of that was splendidly exploited during his brief honeymoon, beginning with his introductory press conference, continuing through his rare public pronouncements since, mostly encircling the times he would quietly come to the Garden and watch the remains of the 2014 Knicks chase a playoff pipe dream.

And none of it tells us as much about Jackson as this first order of business, conducted Monday, when he fired Mike Woodson and his army of a.ssistant coaches, made a clean break with all of them including (at least for the time being) Herb Williams, who’s survived so many palace coups at the Garden, it was a.ssumed he was on permanent retainer.

Firing Woodson isn’t exactly an original thought, and it’s something most Knicks fans have been waiting for since December. By the end, Woodson’s only real supporters were those who blindly looked at his win-loss record and never actually bothered to watch a game in person this year, to see just how terribly coached this team was.

What’s more useful is seeing the way Jackson went about this: coolly — almost coldly — with little emotion and zero sentiment. He sent Woodson and his men on their way with a brushstroke of kindness — “I have a tremendous amount of respect for Mike Woodson and his entire staff,” Jackson said in a statement released by the team — but didn’t feel the need to go overboard, either.

“The time has come,” Jackson said, “for change throughout the franchise as we start the journey to a.ssess and build this team for next season and beyond.”

And that time, in this instance, was right now.

Immediately.

And if that’s a signal of how Jackson is going to be for as long as he sits at the helm of this franchise and this journey, then it is a positive first step. It is decisive, it is BS-free, it is business first, it is resounding.

So much of succeeding in the role Jackson has a.ssumed is about how you go about your business, every bit as much as the results of that business. There can be no half-measures. There can be no halfway. When Frank Cashen ran the Mets, he said, “One of the tricks to this job is balancing what seems to be two irreconcilable realities: patience and impatience.”

That’s exactly right. Knicks fans won’t sit still for the kind of elaborate, time-consuming rebuilding program that, for instance, Sandy Alderson has brought the Mets, where progress is measured in millimeters rather than miles — and Jackson is, frankly, too old for that kind of deliberate process.

But the Knicks have been burned for decades by the impetuousness that a right-now culture fosters, and that goes not only for Andrea Bargnani of the latter-day Knicks but every other impulse buy going back to Spencer Haywood, the first dim-bulb bright idea that ransomed the franchise’s health for its ego.

Next up will be finding Woodson’s replacement, and all indications are Jackson has already given serious thought to that, has already identified Steve Kerr as his man, and it will be interesting to see how quickly he tries to close that.

Again, it will take some decisiveness on Jackson’s part, starting with the need to inform Kerr he would have to give up his sweet broadcasting gig if he says yes. Remember: no half-measures.

The tough part is still beyond that: identifying the right players and then having the skill to draft, sign or acquire them. Still so much of Jackson’s game is to be defined and determined. But if he’s going to do the rest of the job as decisively as his first act? He really might have a f!ghting chance after all.

Steve Kerr understands big league pressure and what it means to work in the looming shadow of greatness. In the 1997 NBA Finals, with the Chicago Bulls on the verge of putting away the Utah Jazz, Michael Jordan would wave off Phil Jackson's designed play and draw it up instead for his struggling teammate.

"This is your chance," Jordan told Kerr.

Sure enough, after John Stockton abandoned his man to provide help defense on Jordan, the one and only threw a pass to an open Kerr, who drained the Game 6 shot that gave the Bulls their second consecutive title and gave the reserve guard a platform to thank Jordan for his unbending faith. "I owe him everything," Kerr said.

Someday in the not-too-distant future, Kerr might be saying the same thing about Jackson. The president of the New York Knicks just fired Mike Woodson and started a search for a replacement that might begin and end with Kerr, the TNT broadcaster and former Phoenix Suns GM who meets at least two of Jackson's apparent requirements for serious consideration: He has a burning desire to coach, and he can tell you more about the triangle than your average high school geometry teacher.

Truth is, Jackson should take his time and open up the search. He should wait and see if any interesting people get fired after losing in the first round of the playoffs. The draft is two months away, so what's the rush? Should a rookie president really hire a rookie head coach? Why consider only those who live and breathe the triangle offense when it would shrink the pool of candidates to a precious few and eliminate some highly qualified coaches who run similar systems based on the same ball-sharing concepts?

Aren't Zen Masters often celebrated as broad thinkers who never allow themselves to be boxed in?

In the end, we all know Jackson is going to do what Jackson is going to do. James Dolan, the Knicks' owner, handed him $60 million to build something worthy of comparison to the 11 championship teams Jackson coached in Chicago and Los Angeles, and nobody, not even Dolan, will tell the new president how to pick his players or the professionals hired to develop them. Though it would seem to make more sense to move Kerr into the front office, where he has some experience, and hire a veteran head coach who would ease Jackson's transition into a new role, Phil believes he's smarter than the rest of us when it comes to basketball, and his track record walks the talk.

But here's one thing Kerr or whoever replaces Woodson needs to accept before walking through that Madison Square Garden door, one thing that Jackson might not mention in the official job interview: That coach had better be strong enough to handle Jackson as his boss and, of greater consequence, as his permanent replacement-in-waiting.

That will be his toughest challenge by far. It won't be the New York market, the New York media or the New York championship drought that dates back to 1973. It will be the calls from the fans, and credentialed commentators, during the inevitable losing streak or three for Jackson to come down from the mount and coach the Knicks all the way to a parade.

"New York is famous for chants, and you know you'll hear 'We want Phil' in the Garden after they lose four in a row," said one longtime league official with ties to the Knicks. "If the head coach is Steve Kerr or someone else, he'll have to be strong and understand that something like that is going to happen. He'll have to understand that it's not a knock on him, but a testament to Phil's greatness. And then it's up to Phil to protect his coach from that."

There's something of a natural line to be drawn here to Pat Riley's decision in 2005 to leave the Miami Heat's front office and replace Stan Van Gundy on the bench. At 60, the 2005 Riley was eight years younger than Jackson is now, and he didn't have the health issues that Jackson has cited as a reason to keep his coaching days behind him.

But still, Jackson considered returning to the Lakers' sideline before being passed over -- shockingly enough -- for Mike D'Antoni, and he hasn't completely ruled out one last go on the bench. What if a re-signed Carmelo Anthony or the major free agent the Knicks sign in July 2015 ultimately decide to push behind the scenes for a Jackson comeback, much like Shaquille O'Neal and Alonzo Mourning were said to have favored a Riley return in 2005?

"That's where Phil would have to protect his guy," the official said, "and come out and tell the fans, 'Stop it. You're hurting our guy. You're hurting us. I'm not doing it, and he's the best coach for us.'

"Phil will have to stand with him and support him. He'll also have to let his coach be a little different. Maybe he won't burn incense in the locker room or hand out books for his players to read. Maybe he'll use some of the triangle principles instead of using only the triangle all of the time. Either way, that coach will need to be protected by strong leadership."

Once upon a time, a new head coach named Bill Belichick ran away from the New York Jets because, among other things, he wasn't comfortable with the specter of Bill Parcells as his front-office overlord. Parcells had two championship rings at the time, or nine fewer than Jackson has right now, playing days not included.

If Kerr turns out to be Jackson's guy, so be it. He was once tough enough to accept the mother of all endgame challenges from Michael Jordan, who, deep down, wasn't sure Kerr was up to it.

But Jordan wasn't Kerr's boss or his permanent replacement-in-waiting in Chicago. Phil Jackson will be both in New York, and it's going to take one hell of a coach to deal with that.

Phil Jackson has addressed the idea of coaching the Knicks twice since taking over as president.

In an interview with TMZ, Jackson was asked if it would be better for the Knicks if he were on the sideline as opposed to in the front office.

"Probably so, but I can't do it,” he said. “Not [because it's] part of the contract, [but because] it's part of my physical capabilities."

In early April, Jackson was asked if he had completely ruled out the idea of coaching the Knicks.

“I have no intention of coaching,” he said.

Now that he’s fired Mike Woodson, the smart money says Jackson will hire Steve Kerr to be his first head coach. It’s highly unlikely Jackson will take the bench at this point. But there are several reasons Jackson, if he’s physically capable, should at least consider coaching the team.

Below, we present three of them:

1. His impact on Melo: As with most issues involving the Knicks, it’s important to view Jackson’s coaching through the prism of Carmelo Anthony's free agency. It's fair to a.ssume Anthony would be thrilled with the idea of playing for Jackson. He's already expressed a healthy respect for Jackson's basketball IQ and accomplishments. Anthony's also said again and again that winning will be his top priority in free agency. If that is true -- and we have no reason to believe it isn’t -- then who better to play for than Jackson, who has won an NBA record 11 titles?

2. He's the best candidate available: No offense to Kerr, but even he’d agree with the following statement: Phil is the Knicks' best option as coach. Put aside the fact he’s won 11 titles as a head coach for a second; Jackson has shown an ability to get through to elite players that few other coaches possess. So who better to get Anthony to break through to the "next level" that Jackson has talked about than Jackson himself? And then there's this: one of the criteria for the Knicks’ coaching search is finding a coach with knowledge of the triangle offense. Who better than Jackson, who taught it to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant?

3. Avoiding an awkward situation: As my colleague Ian O’Connor points out so well in this column, the next coach of the Knicks is going to have to work in the shadow of Jackson. And that’s no easy task. Every mistake will be viewed through the context of Phil. Every loss will leave some fans and analysts wondering: Would things be better if Jackson was coaching? Each losing streak will cause some fans to root for Jackson to take over. They may do so during games with the same "We want Phil" chant that was heard in Los Angeles in recent seasons.

Those aren’t easy circumstances for any coach to handle, let alone one who hasn’t coached before. That kind of awkward situation can be avoided if Jackson takes over as coach.

One thing worth noting when thinking about the possibility of Jackson taking over: A source told ESPNLosAngeles.com's Ramona Shelburne in early March that Jackson would be open to the possibility of coaching for a short period of time if it were necessary. But there is no indication that Jackson has given any thought to coaching at this point. So there’s no reason to expect him to take over for 2014-15. Still, it’s something that he should at least consider.

Phil Jackson, in his first remarks since firing Mike Woodson, said he plans to speak to Steve Kerr in the next week or so, saying the two have “philosophically a strong connection.’’

Jackson indicated he could have a new coach in place in the next month, but said the only timetable is making a hire before the summer league in July. Kerr will be in New York on Sunday to broadcast the Nets-Raptors series.

Jackson revealed his fiancée, Lakers president Jeanie Buss, tried convincing him last week during a New York visit to coach the Knicks because it was “less risk’’ and something he knows. But Jackson said his “mind is made up’’ about not coaching because of health issues.

“She tried to encourage me to coach the team,” Jackson said. “If there’s anyone who can encourage me to do anything, it’s Jeanie Buss. But I was able to withstand her arguments the whole time.”

Jackson said he spoke to Kerr a year ago about coaching when it appeared Jackson would be named president of a new Seattle franchise before the move from Sacramento got torpedoed.

“Steve and I talked a year ago,’’ Jackson said. “When Seattle had bought the rights to the Sacramento Kings from the Maloof brothers, I talked to him about his interest at that time. He said at the time he wasn’t ready to coach. We had another conversation at breakfast in January. He wanted to talk about style of coaching, purely philosophical discussion. We have very similar space about coaching in a lot of ways. Philosophically, we have a strong connection.

“We will have a conversation with him later on this month and talk to him about it and see where he’s at with his desire to coach,’’ Jackson added.

Jackson admitted he’s not looking for a coaching retread and likes that Kerr comes in with an open mind, having never been a head coach, just a general manager with the Phoenix Suns.

“We get caught up in replicating what others do,’’ Jackson said. “I’m not looking for a coach to do that.’’

Jackson said he’s also looking for a coach with “charismatic appeal.’’

“We’re looking for a leader,’’ Jackson said. “Someone who can bring out the best in players. Someone who has a unique ability in encouraging staff to meet needs players have. New York demands a personality, a person fans can believe in, a person who has some confidence and charismatic appeal and has a forward-looking idea about the game.”

Jackson said the new coach will pick his staff, but said he’ll have “veto power.’’ The Zen Master also advocated the triangle offense that netted him a record 11 coaching titles.

“I like to see all the players involved in playmaking skills and operating in the offense itself with ball movement and player movement,’’ Jackson said. “A lot of times we’re more stagnant than that right now. I like to see full involvement of players.’’

That includes Carmelo Anthony. Jackson said his exit interview with Anthony went well and he hopes Anthony is “true to his word’’ about considering a pay cut to give the Knicks more cap flexibility, similar to what the Miami superstars did in 2010.

One day after Steve Kerr said he “anticipates” speaking to Phil Jackson about the Knicks head-coaching job, Ron Harper told The Post he believes he will interview for a position with the Knicks, as well.

Harper won NBA five titles under Jackson as a combo guard, playing five seasons in Chicago for the new Knicks team president and two seasons with the Lakers. He was also a teammate of Kerr’s in Chicago and Cleveland.

Harper said he has texted with Jackson a few times since he got the Knicks job.

“I would expect so,” Harper said of interviewing for a coaching job. “A few guys are expecting to hear from him. We’re in a wait-and-see mode. Whatever he needs me to do, I will do. He knows that.”

Harper, who lives in Wayne, N.J., works part-time for the NBA doing overseas camps and also helps run a basketball program called Overtime Sports in New Jersey. He was a Pistons a.ssistant coach under Flip Saunders for two seasons in the mid-2000s after playing 15 seasons in the NBA. But he hasn’t been an NBA coach since 2007.

“One thing Phil wants to do is teach what he knows and teach the triangle,” Harper said. “I know it like the back of my hand, inside out, and he knows I love the game.”

Kerr is the leading candidate to replace Mike Woodson, who was fired Monday. There have been a handful of former Jackson players mentioned as potential candidates for the open head coach and a.ssistant positions.

“Phil’s a smart guy,” Harper said. “When you’re president, you try to bring in guys who are close to you. Phil’s got a game plan and only he knows it. We’ll wait and see.”

The triangle is considered too complicated for many coaches to install, but Harper disagrees.

“It’s not hard, it’s just getting five guys on the same page,” Harper said. “You just got to have guys who understand what their roles are, are very good passers, very smart and are interchangeable.”

Will Carmelo Anthony fit in well to the new geometry?

“I definitely think he’s very smart, with a high basketball IQ,” Harper said. “I think it’s been tough for him seeing him get it so far away from the hoop and having to go through two, three, four guys. This way he can be more one-on-one.”

Harper took in five games at the Garden this season and saw the Knicks’ late-game travails, with Anthony often the culprit.

“The triangle is really good for the final four minutes,” Harper said. “They lost a lot of close games where you’d say: ‘What was that play called?’

“One thing about Phil, he will put his stamp on New York basketball. It’ll be hard to do it this summer with the salary cap and no draft picks but in a year or two, when they’re under the cap it will happen.”

Kerr will call the Nets-Raptors game Sunday for TNT, so he’ll be in the city then to potentially meet with Jackson. There have been reports that though Kerr wants to coach the Knicks next season, he would prefer a West Coast team. But will there be a vacancy?

Kerr lives in San Diego and the Lakers should have a job opportunity with Mike D’Antoni on thin ice. However, it seems unlikely Lakers president Jeanie Buss will try to steal Kerr from her fiancée, Jackson. If Mark Jackson gets the Warriors past the Clippers in the first round, it would seem hard to imagine he would be fired. That series is 1-1.

Nevertheless, a Kerr confidant said he probably would listen to other teams, but Jackson stands as clear favorite for Kerr’s services.

“One thing you want to look into is whether Kerr would fully be on board with being away from his family in San Diego,” one NBA source said. “I know even when he ran Phoenix, he many times went back and forth between Phoenix and San Diego and even recently has had trepidations about going back into the NBA because of wanting to spend time with his family.”

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- New York Knicks president Phil Jackson responded on Wednesday to a New York Daily News report that stated that he and Knicks owner James Dolan have had friction over personnel decisions.

Responding to a question about the Daily News report, Jackson said that Dolan has "been very true to his word" thus far in his promise to give Jackson autonomy over basketball decisions.

"As far as Jim Dolan's promise or his premise when I took this job that's he's going to leave basketball decisions up to me, really, he's been loyal to that promise," Jackson said. "And going forward from last week through this week, just wanting to talk to (ex Knicks head coach) Mike (Woodson) when we were through talking to him, the staff -- it's all our decision. He's been very true to his word to this point."

Citing an unnamed team source, the Daily News reported on Wednesday that Jackson is looking to remove several staff members from the organization but has run into opposition from Dolan.

On the day he hired Jackson last month, Dolan vowed that the 13-time NBA champion would "be in charge of all basketball decisions."

Jackson's first large-scale personnel move came on Monday, when he fired Woodson and his entire coaching staff.

Jackson said on Wednesday that he expects to speak with several coaches about the vacancy. Steve Kerr is widely believed to be the favorite.

If Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson were advising Carmelo Anthony, he'd tell him to leave the New York Knicks this summer.

"I would leave today [if I were Carmelo]," Roberston said on SiriusXM NBA radio Thursday. "... Let me tell you why: wherever that kid has gone, when he was at Denver, they had a team that fooled around with the ball, fooled around with the ball, then all of the sudden when they needed a basket, threw it to Carmelo. Then, when he shot the ball, they said he shot too much. Then when he didn't shoot they said he didn't shoot enough.

"No matter what he does in New York they're going to criticize him, the people are going to criticize him, because you got guys on [the Knicks] that cannot play. You got guys that are hurt all the time."

Anthony has said that he will opt out of the final year of his contract and test free agency this summer. The Houston Rockets, Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Clippers are among a group of teams expected to show interest in Anthony.

Robertson thinks Houston would be a perfect fit for Anthony, who was second in the NBA in scoring last season and pulled down a career-high 8.1 rebounds per game.

"If he goes to Houston, they're gonna win everything," Robertson told host and well-known Knicks fan Spike Lee. "You look at LeBron [James], LeBron's got a great game and the kid down at Oklahoma, [Kevin] Durant's got a great game -- they can't out-shoot Carmelo. ... I've seen him in a lot of basketball games over the years and I'm telling you right now the kid, he just can get that shot away. Now he's gotten smarter, he's going to the basket a lot. But what gets me is that everyone thinks that everything that happens bad is his fault."

Anthony has said that his top priority is to re-sign with the Knicks. But he'd also like to have a.ssurances from Knicks president Phil Jackson that the team is committed to building a perennial contender around him before he re-signs.

Anthony suggested in February that he would take a pay cut to remain with the Knicks. Jackson on Wednesday said he hopes the All-Star forward follows through with that idea.

"I think [there is] a precedent that's been set," Jackson said of stars taking less money to join or remain with contending teams. "Because the way things have been structured now financially for teams is that it's really hard to have one or two top stars or max players, and to put together a team with enough talent, you've got to have people making sacrifices financially.

"So we hope that Carmelo is true to his word and we understand what it's going to take, and we will present that to him at that time."

Anthony has been complimentary of Jackson since the 13-time NBA champ took over as Knicks president last month.

"Let me ask you: When was the last time Phil Jackson played? ... I think Phil is great to have gotten $12 million out of [Knicks owner Jim Dolan]. Super job. Take the money and run," Roberston said. "If I were Carmelo I would say, 'Listen, I'm not gonna stay here and take all this gruff and all this criticism. You got other guys on this team making $12, $15, $16 million and doing nothing, and here I am averaging 28, 29 points per game.' "

Regarding a pay cut, if Anthony took less money to re-sign with the Knicks this summer, it wouldn't help the team's cap situation for 2014-15.

Unless Anthony takes a significant pay cut, the team is expected to be over the salary cap thanks in part to commitments next season to Amar'e Stoudemire ($23.4 million), Tyson Chandler ($14.6 million) and Andrea Bargnani ($11.5 million).

Anthony can sign a max contract worth $129 million over five years. If he signs with another team, the maximum he can earn is $95.8 million over four years.

Hall-of-Fame guard Oscar Robertson said on a taping of Spike Lee’s SiriusXM radio show set to air Thursday night that Anthony always will be “criticized’’ in New York for whatever he does and the Knicks’ expensive roster is too injury-riddled to contend for a championship. Robertson believes Houston would be the perfect landing spot.

“I would leave today,’’ Robertson said. “Let me tell you why: Wherever that kid has gone, when he was at Denver, they had a team that fooled around with the ball, then all of a sudden when they needed a basket, threw it to Carmelo. Then, when he shot the ball, they said he shot too much. Then when he didn’t shoot, they said he didn’t shoot enough.

“No matter what he does in New York, they’re going to criticize him, the people are going to criticize him, because you got guys on that team [the Knicks] that cannot play. You got guys that are hurt all the time.’’

When Lee asked him whether Phil Jackson makes a difference, Robertson responded: “Let me ask you: When was the last time Phil Jackson played? … I think Phil is great to have gotten $12 million out of [owner Jim Dolan]. Super job. Take the money and run. If I were Carmelo I would say, ‘Listen, I’m not gonna stay here and take all this gruff and all this criticism. You got other guys on this team making $12, $15, $16 million and doing nothing, and here I am averaging 28, 29 points per game.’”

The Post first reported Houston’s interest in Anthony as a free agent last month, but the Rockets need to work a sign-and-trade if they can’t clear the necessary cap space.

“Melo would have a huge impact on Houston,’’ Robertson said. “If he goes to Houston, they’re gonna win everything. You look at LeBron [James], LeBron’s got a great game and the kid down at Oklahoma, [Kevin] Durant’s got a great game – they can’t out-shoot Carmelo.’’

Jackson said Wednesday the Knicks can survive and “move on’’ if Anthony flees, but Robertson believes Anthony is a better shooter than Durant.

“Yes I do,’’ Robertson said. “I’ve seen him in a lot of basketball games over the years, and I’m telling you right now the kid, he just can get that shot away. Now he’s gotten smarter — he’s going to the basket a lot. But what gets me is that everyone thinks that everything that happens [that's] bad is his fault.’’

Jackson said Wednesday he hopes Anthony stays “true to his word,’’ referring to an All-Star break proclamation that he would be willing to take a pay cut to help the Knicks’ cap flexibility. His comments caused a stir because instead of praising Anthony for making the offer, Jackson indicated he expected it to be done since “a precedent has been set’’ in the league with superstars such as James, Dwyane Wade and Tim Duncan taking less than the maximum.